UK Builders Gear Up For Zero Carbon Housing

While builders in North America keep cranking out the subdivisions and barely tinker with building codes, in the UK all home have to be zero-carbon by 2016 and the builders are holding summits with the Government to figure out how. (A zero-carbon house is defined as one which produces as much energy, by using solar panels or wind turbines, as it consumes.) Instead of whinging doing business as usual, they are saying things like "These houses will produce less than half the carbon emissions of a traditionally built house, they will cost about a third as much to run, and we're building them at the same cost as a standard house type in this country" Even environmental groups like Greenpeace welcomed this summit, saying "Tackling emissions from homes is really important and zero-carbon homes are therefore crucial." Zero carbon houses are being built across the UK with environmentally-friendly developments in Brixton, south London, and Leicester, in the East Midlands. How many are being built in North America? ::Guardian